Cable link seen as a plus for Malta’s environment

The planned submarine cable linking Malta to Sicily has received the thumbs up from the planning authority’s environment unit, which said it would be an important alternative to conventional power generation.

In a report on the €200 million project, the Environment Planning Directorate suggested that the interconnector would help improve air quality without having a major impact on the environment.

The government project entails the excavation of a tunnel to pass cables from the proposed interconnector terminal station at Magħtab to the Kappara distribution centre and the excavation of a culvert trench to link the station to the shoreline at Qalet Marku bay.

The cable will be buried 1.5 metres below the seabed wherever possible. To minimise the environmental impact where it is exposed, it will be covered with cast iron shells in areas where the endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanic grows, or with rocks.

The power link is part of efforts to reduce Malta’s electricity generating capacity and is central to its EU obligations not to operate Marsa power station for more than 20,000 operational hours – a quota already exceeded by three of its four plants.

The directorate’s report dealt with the Environment Impact Assessment of the project and forms part of the process leading up to the issuing of a planning permit.

The report acknowledged there would be “residual impact” in the footprint of the cable and its immediate area. The affected area was ultimately, however, a narrow strip negligible in comparison to the extensive Natura 2000 site designated to protect the Posidonia meadows.

The overall impact would be localised and not expected to be significant.

The project was in line with both the National Environment Policy and the Air Quality Plan, the directorate added.

A number of potential impacts on the environment were identified – some of major significance – but the report noted these could be mitigated by the proposed measures.

The rock excavation waste and the noise of construction that would be heard in Magħtab, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and Madliena were among the impacts listed.

However, there was a proposal to use around 60 per cent of the hardstone excavated while mitigation measures should be stringently enforced to keep noise levels down to acceptable levels, the directorate said.